-= Rodan (1956) =-

Spoilers Ahead - this post contains the plot for Rodan (1956)

My personal notes can be found at the bottom

We begin the film by panning past a mountainous scene with a large mining town on Mount Aso. Some men are chatting with one another, and some moving mine carts are full of stone. Some of these miners are seen fighting one another for one reason or another, which is apparently a common occurance with these particular men. It's time for this group's shift to begin, so they descend down this cool metallic minecart rail car thing and we see one man in particular going over some written plans in an above ground office like building, where they talk about how hot it is and how global warming will flood the earth. Little do they know.

The young man engineer, Shigeru, gets a call saying there's flooding in the west pit, despite there being no groundwater there. It's strange, but he goes out to check it anyway. He's allowed in the pit while other miners are not, where he goes to check out why it is flooding the way it is. They have a pump that is keeping it in check, but they don't know how or where in particular it started-- or where two of their men are, in particular two of the ones scuffling. We see the heavily flooded lower level of the pit, where Shigeru and some men go to investigate. They quickly reach waist-high water before they see the corpse of one of the two men who went missing-- after taking the body to a doctor, he claims that it was no accident, and that he was slashed with something extremely sharp. We see a woman with a baby on her back clamoring at the door begging to see him and asking if he's alive, supposedly his wife.

The men gossip amongst themselves, believing it was the other man who dissapeared, who was fighting with the other man the day prior. He, Goro, is still missing though, and Shigeru says to not start rumors-- they don't know for sure. Goro's sister (and Shigeru's fiance), Kiyo, has heard the rumors, and she can't believe he would do such a thing as Shigeru attempts to console her. In the following scene, the miners gather as the supervisors take roll. Everyone is present except the guards and, of course, Goro. Some other men return to the pit to investigate, saying there's only one exit Goro could have taken, so he must still be inside. They keep hearing strange sounds as they go further into the flooded tunnel, like tons of splashing. Suddenly, one of the men is pulled under the water as a strange squeaking sound is heard-- then one of the others. Only one of the three men ends up making it out of the flood, only to be followed and dragged down by whatever creature it was. The three bodies are recovered and the mining office is in an uproar; the doctors report having "never seen such horrific murders". Its baffles them that four men have been taken out one after the other. One doctor claims "Officer Tashiro's head was left danging by a scrap of skin. It had to be something very sharp, like a Japanese sword."

One woman is distraught hearing this news, wanting to go take it out on Kiyo since many people think it was her brother who did it. Shigeru comes to Kiyo, who is understandably very upset. He tells her he knows it wasnt Goro since two of the other men killed were his friends, and he urges her to not give up hope.

Suddenly, we hear the strange squeaking noise again, and out of nowhere a large worm-arthopod-like creature runs up on them. They flee, shocked and confused as to what the creature is, calling for help. The pair and some armed officers return to the house where the creature runs them off. Regrouping, all of the townspeople try to follow it, watching it climb up the slag heap. They fire on it, but it manages to kill two of the men with its sharp pincers; where the men realize that the bug is the killer of all the other men (if it wasn't obvious already). The town calls for backup as the creature goes back into the mine again, the police force being called in with larger guns as the miners attempt to barricade the mine entrance. They cautiously enter the mine with their weaponry, setting up their machine guns as they go. They notice the flood is actively receding, slowly, for some reason. They find Goro's body as they stumble upon the creature with its weird sounds. They shoot at it with machine guns but it doesn't work, so they release the heavy coal wagon. It seems to kill it, but they realize further in that there are more of them, where is a cave in, and Shigeru is separated from the rest.

"It looks like dragonfly larva" one man says as we return to the above-ground offices. Another claims

"This is a startling paleontological discovery. The fossil record proves the existence of giant dragonflies called Meganulon. These are their larvae."

They suppose that there were eggs that were buried below the mine, and a tectonic shift allowed for there to be the right environmental conditions for the eggs to hatch. As they discuss this discovery, there is an earthquake and the outside ground crumbles somewhat, revealing a strange reddish soil. The office calls to report the earthquake, where the specialist says the epicenter was between the crater created and the mine. The mining supervisors go out to check the area with him, where they're stumped. The seismologist says that it's strange because the intensity was registered as a zero, and it shouldnt have made a crater, yet they stand before one. They see someone walking down in the crater, and it turns out to be Shigeru! They bring him back to get checked out by a doctor, but he is shellshocked and suppposedly has amnesia. Kiyo comes in to see him but he doesn't recognize her, or anyone for that matter. She is heartbroken, not only having lost Goro, but in a sense Shigeru too.

We cut to a doctor's office where Shigeru is having tests performed on him, like showing him a triceratops and asking him what it is. They then show him the Meganulon larva photograph, where he suddenly reacts. He holds his head as if burdened with an agonizing headach. They call a volcanic research office and inform them that there may be signs of an upcoming eruption.

Suddenly, we cut to an air traffic center, where there is a plane entering airspace at super sonic speed, of unknown nationality. A pilot is sent to see them personally, saying the plane's speed is 1.5x his own and he still can't make out what kind of plane it is or where it's from. Suddenly, the "plane" rams into him, killing him. The same air base gets a call about another plane going missing in a different area and that they saw a flying saucer. In Beijing, an unidentified flying object is also reported. Furthermore, in the Phillipines, they delcare martial law since these strange flying objects are wholly destructive. In Okinawa, they are sending out telegrams warning about this flying object and the danger it poses so society.

A seemingly rich couple in a fancy car head out to the crater to take photographs, when the woman suddenly screams upon seeing the flying object zoom overhead. The two are then quickly killed, where some people think it was suicide, but theyre like no, the camera and shoes were too far away from one another. The research team then develops film from the camera, and in one photograph they end up seeing a flash of a wing and claw. They take out an illustration of a pteranodon and hold up the photograph to it-- the wing and claw match the illustration exactly in a very cool reveal.

"Pteranodon was estimated to be just 28 feet long. How could it down a jet plane?"

"And Meganulons from the same period have recently emerged," another scientist claims. They, however, are unsure of their discovery, relying on Shigeru to regain his memory in order for their suspicions to be confirmed. Back to Shigeru and Kiyo, we see Shigeru is sketching something calmly. Kiyo then happily exclaims that her canaries are going to have babies, and she hands him the nest to show him. He sees the two eggs and one hatching, where he suddenly freaks out. We see a flashback of him in the mine, in an underground ecosystem, where there are a bunch of Meganulons, bats, and other critters... Including a gigantic egg as its hatching. A red baby winged reptile pops out, happily picking some Meganulon larvae off the nearby stones and flapping its wings. So Rodan is a baby :)

We cut back to present time where Shigeru is having a panic attack in bed, pouring sweat and shaking. Kiyo helps him out of it, and he suddenly has his memory back before confirming that what he saw was a pteranodon to the officers in the following scene. They return to the mine (I'm shocked that Shigeru was fine with going back tbh) where they enter through the cave-in where Shigeru was trapped. They explore the underground area, finding a piece of the eggshell-- it's huge and thick-walled. The men flee back to the surface as another cave-in begins, where they then begin to analyze the shell, saying it's 90% calcium. In addition, under an electron microscope, it looks exaclty like a chicken eggshell. They determine that to estimate the total size, they must use the curvature of the shell fragment, which is a nice touch to the narrative. At the emergency HQ, there is a meeting being held, where one of the scientists claims

"Pteranodon is the largest flying species ever recorded. Judging from a piece of eggshell we've discovered, this one, which we've named Rodan, has a wingspan of 270 feet and weighs over a hundred tons."

Determining the strength of his wings, they also say he can create sonic booms and shockwaves. They decide that hydrogen bomb tests caused Rodan to hatch, just like another big fella we know and love.

The group then goes to the area where they think he's emerging to see the ground being blown up, where the creature suddenly emerges-- and Shigeru confirms once and for all that's what he saw in the cave. Funny enough, he still makes jet engine sounds, which.. I don't think a living thing, even as fast as he's going, would make those sounds. As he flies, he tears up the ground and kicks up dust and debris.

Jets are sent out to attempt to counter him; they shoot missles, but he easily takes down two of the fighters. The remaining aircraft attempt to lead him out to sea. Eventually they drive him into the water, where he dives in and the jets continue to shoot missles into the water at him. However, he's still able to take flight from out of the water, where he then causes a metal bridge to collapse just by flying over it. On the bright side, the fighter's hit cuts Rodan's speed in half where they're able to tail him easier. As he flies, buildings are destroyed without him even having to touch them. He lands, and tanks attempt to surround him so he can't take flight again. Rodan just kinds of stands there and takes the cannonfire for a while. The tanks are apparently immune to his wing flaps as he attempts to take off again, despite obliterating surrounding buildings and throwing vehicles. Fires begin to blaze, since electrical devices in buildings and electrical poles have been torn asunder. Suddenly, a second Rodan is spotted nearby, and the two take off and escape together.

Skipping ahead somewhat, the research team and mining supervisors have seen no sign of the Rodans. The lead researcher poses that the Rodans consider Mount Aso their nest, so they have most likely returned there. Upon arriving at that mentioned location, they spot the two in the crater. The men plan to prevent the Rodans from escaping the inner cave by blowing up both entrances, yet someone is vehemently against the idea because it will surely release the volcano. They discuss the idea for a bit, weighing the pros and cons, but eventually all of the townspeople are evacuated for their plan to begin taking place.

Despite being evacuated, Kiyo returns to where the researchers, engineers, and supervisors are, claiming she had to see Shigeru. He urges her to come with her since obviously it isn't safe, and they are able to watch as the first strike force fires large missles into the earth, causing explosions to seal up that entrance. The volcano threatens to erupt, so the men in the office giving commands are forced to evacuate. The second strike force continues, blowing up the other end in the crater.

The Rodans emerges as the volcano begins to sputter to life-- and when they're about to escape, one of them gets their wing wounded. This Rodan then weakly falls to the ground, being lit aflame due to the leaking lava. As it dies, its mate sadly floats down to view it, before allowing itself to fall to the earth, succumbing to the flames as well.

-= Notes =-

These notes unfortunately won't be as fresh as they could've been; I usually try to write these right after I watch the film, but my laptop was near death when I finished last night. However, surprise, I have more paleontology points!

I'm not sure if this is just a modern English translation (I'm always watching subbed when I can) but I appreciate that they called Rodan a pteranodon and not a pterodactyl, which is an outdated term. The researchers mentioning that pteranodon was 'only 28 feet' and it shouldn't have the power to down a jet is a really good point that I'm glad they left in; they recognize the science that directly contests with their monstrous discovery, not like in the previous films where Anguirus WAS a ankylosaur-- they're monsters, they're larger than they're meant to be, and the actual people experiencing these monsters point that out. It's honestly a very realistic reaction, and I appreciate that inclusion. 28 feet for a pteranodon isn't too far off from the truth, which is another welcome addition.

Interestingly, for the time, their estimation of pteranodon being the largest of the pterosaurs was actually correct. In modern paleontology, we are aware of and have described many larger pterosaurs, but they were mostly in the 70s, 80s, and onwards. The only larger-than-pteranodon pterosaurs near the time of the film were Arambourgiania, which was discovered in the early 40's but not described and named until 1959, and the famous and charismatic Quetzalcoatlus--- who is still famously known as one of if not THE largest pterosaur species, who was only described in 1975 (discovered in 1971). If the movie were made 3 years later, Rodan could have been an Arambourgiania; but that's also not nearly as memorable or pronouncable of a word as pteranodon is.

I obviously don't mean to harp on monster size in these notes-- OBVIOUSLY these are monsters and that's what they're meant to be, if we wanted to watch a horror sci-fi film about actual realistic(ish) sized dinosaurs we would watch Jurassic Park. The size and the terror is what makes these guys monsters.

However... obviously the dragonfly larvae Meganulon are too big, lol. I do really appreciate the fact that they brought Meganeura into the paleo-monster mix though. That's not a genus of extinct creatures we often see in non-paleongological circles. These guys were large dragonflies very closely related to the ones we have today, and they were around even before the mesozoic where the dinosaurs sit on our geologic time scale. They were big, yes, but only with about a wingspan of 65-75 cm, or 2.13-2.46 ft. Apparently, the Meganulon larvae were originally going to be giant termites or mole crickets-- mole crickets would have been really creepy and would've made sense with them digging through the earth, but having them by dragonfly larvae make sense when you think about the initial conflict in the film, with the mine flooding. That being said, it would've been cool if we could have seen some of these larvae pupate and grow into their dragonfly form, with the Rodans flying around and eating them mid-flight, but... we only have to wait until 2000 when Godzilla vs. Megaguirus comes out ;)

Also, what a horribly sad ending. Pteranodons weren't birds, but having the second Rodan choose death so it couldn't be without its mate is so depressing and interestingly reminiscent of many modern day birds, who mate for life. I appreciate that we saw Kiyo cry at their deaths; like yeah, they're horrifying and deadly monsters, but this tiny short moment was one of if not the first instance of humanlike (or human-adjacent) emotion from these prehistoric monsters. That to me, while overlooked by some, is so important-- especially in many of the Godzilla films, where these kaiju are just big, confused, or angry animals. Many, as we will see, are not evil at their core-- and I'm very interested to see the development of those creatures specifically.

1.11.2024